-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is considered a rising GOP star and the Republican Party 's leader on fiscal and budgetary issues .

The chairman of the House Budget Committee was first elected to Congress at age 28 , and later helped launch the party 's `` Young Guns '' program to recruit candidates in districts where Republicans lost .

Now 42 , Ryan is the architect of the House GOP 's budget proposal , which Democrats compared to an attack on the poor , but Republicans say is intended to save Medicare and rein in spending .

The chairman of the House Budget Committee was announced as the running mate for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney .

`` It 's -LSB- Romney 's -RSB- decision months from now , not mine . So why spend my time thinking about it ? If this bridge ever comes that I should cross it , then I 'll think about it then . It 's not the time to think about it , '' he told The Wall Street Journal in April .

Romney announces Ryan as running mate

A native of Janesville , Wisconsin , Ryan earned a degree in political science and economics from Miami University in Ohio in 1992 . He was raised as a Catholic , and worked at a family construction company before getting into politics . He 's known to be an avid hunter and a fitness fanatic .

In the House , Ryan is also a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee .

He has frequently pushed the Republicans ' `` class warfare '' line against President Barack Obama and is a major critic of his signature health reform law .

`` If you give us more elected representatives to fix this problem , we will fix this problem in 2013 , '' Ryan said in an interview with CNBC .

Because he hails from Wisconsin , an important battleground , Ryan 's youthfulness could appeal to a group with whom the president enjoys advantages .

Ryan is considered a lightning rod , and his presence on the GOP ticket will fundamentally change the 2012 race .

Where does Romney stand on the Ryan plan ?

`` It would be a bold choice , '' CNN senior analyst David Gergen said earlier of a Romney-Ryan ticket . `` It would be a risky choice . ''

But there are upsides .

Ryan will likely energize a GOP base often suspicious of Romney , and add youthful vigor to the race with his energetic debates and campaign methods .

Close friends such as former House colleague Mark Green are adamant Ryan would help across the Midwest .

Ryan 's college years

`` I think he does get Wisconsin , '' Green said . `` But I think more importantly he gets that sort of blue-collar conservatism that I think is at the heart of the Republican Party . ''

For months , Romney has tried to frame the race as a referendum on the first Obama term , specifically the president 's economic record .

Adding Ryan to the ticket would mean no escaping an onslaught of Democratic criticism that the Republican ticket would `` end Medicare as we know it '' as Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York is fond of saying .

Paul Ryan , by the numbers

One ad , by nonprofit political organization Agenda Project , critical of the Ryan budget showed a man pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair off a cliff , and ended with the tagline : `` Is America beautiful without Medicare ? Ask Paul Ryan and his friends in Congress . ''

Ryan calls the attacks demagoguery and says Obama has failed to put forward serious proposals to reform costly entitlement programs .

This is the `` bold '' debate conservatives pushing Ryan want , but other Republicans worry it could steer the campaign focus away from the president and onto GOP proposals .

Other potential downsides include Ryan is a House member popular in what was once considered a competitive swing district , but he has never run statewide . He also has no foreign policy experience .

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In light of the Sarah Palin 2008 pick , some will question whether the House member is ready to be commander-in-chief .

`` He is without question one of the stars of the Republican future over the next 10 to 20 years , '' Gergen said . `` Whether he is ready at this moment , only the campaign trail could tell . And he 's going to get , I 'll tell you , he is going to take a real beating . ''

Ryan is also a policy wonk , a self-described nerd who cut his teeth working for conservatives Bill Bennett and Jack Kemp . Friends say it would be a mistake to underestimate his ambition , or his competitive streak .

How do you feel about Romney picking Ryan as his running mate ? Let us know on CNN iReport .

CNN 's Phil Gast and John King contributed to this report .

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Ryan , 42 , is considered the party 's leader on fiscal and budgetary issues

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In the past , Ryan has deferred talk of being Mitt Romney 's running mate

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He is Romney 's pick for VP